Can the internal monologue-heavy first Hunger Games book become a decent movie? We're still not sure, but at least A-list people are getting involved — including Kick-Ass' Chloe Moretz — and everybody's calling it the possible next Twlight.

At first blush, a movie version of Suzanne Collins' media-saturated death-sport novel, The…
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According to Deadline, there are three directors in the running to adapt the first book: Gary Ross (Pleasantville), Sam Mendes (American Beauty), and David Slade (30 Days Of Night). And the director will be chosen by the end of this week. The movie's script is done — it was written by novelist Suzanne Collins herself, with a rewrite by Billy Ray. There's some speculation that if Slade gets the director gig on Hunger Games, he may have to bail out of Wolverine 2, which he's also in talks to direct. In any case, whichever of these three directors wins the gig, it'll be a gorgeous-looking film.

As for who will play the all-important role of Katniss Everdeen, USA Today says there's only one name on the shortlist: Chloe Moretz, who's kind of cornered the market on dangerous girls lately by playing Hit-Girl in Kick-Ass and Abby in Let Me In. (Some reports say that Twilight's Kristen Stewart is also in the running, but that seems incredibly unlikely for all sorts of reasons.)

As with all anonymous reports, you have to take this stuff with a bit of a grain of salt. But it seems likely that the movie's director and star will be announced within a week — and filming should begin early next year. Fingers crossed that Collins and Ray found a way to convey the disparity between Katniss' outward acts and her inner calculations somehow. [via ScreenRant]